AJ Styles is Keeping the Championship Tonight For One Specific Reason

AJ Styles is the hottest full-timer in WWE right now, and his run with the World Championship has been a big part of what’s made SmackDown Live can’t-miss programming for wrestling fans. Tonight he does battle with Dean Ambrose once again, and while it might not be the freshest match, the TLC bout should be a fun one.

However, with the odds heavily in the champ’s favor, what’s next for the Phenomenal One?

It’s going to be the Deadman.

The Undertaker recently returned to SmackDown, announcing that WrestleMania would no longer define his career. We’re expecting more matches from the Phenom, and the next big opportunity for a marquee appearance is the Royal Rumble. With the 30-man battle royal already stacked with two special event superstars in Brock Lesnar and Goldberg, WWE still needs to book some big-time singles matches for the event. The Alamodome is hosting the show this year, and WWE will need a huge attraction to fill out the arena’s 70,000+ capacity.

What bigger attraction could there be than the Phenom versus the Phenomenal One? A match between the two has been the subject of second and third-hand rumors for months, and the pieces are starting to come together for this match to be a reality.

While Taker’s had some impressive in-ring moments these last few years, there’s no denying that his age is showing, and his next few matches need to be with a superstar who’s at the top of their game. Styles hasn’t had a bad match since coming to WWE, and his energetic performance would be the perfect foil for Undertaker’s methodical in-ring method.

Where does it go from there? We’re into pure speculation at this point, but it’s been suggested that a WWE World Champion Undertaker would be the perfect foil for a John Cena seeking to tie Ric Flair’s record 16 world title runs. With Cena increasingly displaying interests outside WWE, a WrestleMania opportunity to meet the Phenom and tie that record would be the perfect cap to a historic career–though we’ve little expectation that Big Match John will ever leave wrestling entirely.